Decoding the noticing function of output: The roles of attention and awareness during L2 grammar learning

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Abstract
We adopted an explanatory sequential design with two experiments to investigate the noticing function of output (Swain, 2005)—the idea that producing output promotes noticing. Combining eye-tracking and stimulated recall, we examined noticing at the levels of attention and awareness. Importantly, we made the first attempt to test the core prediction of the Output Hypothesis (Swain, 2005)—output promotes noticing, which in turn facilitates learning—through a mediation analysis capturing interrelationships among output, attention, and learning simultaneously. Additionally, we elicited learners’ reasons for heightened attention to explore the role of awareness. Based on 79 Chinese participants’ processing, perception, and production of the English past counterfactual conditional, our results suggest that output improved accuracy in grammar production, and the positive effects of output on attention were evident during later-stage (vs. early-stage) input processing. We provide the first quantitative and qualitative evidence identifying the conditions under which attention may mediate the output-learning relationship.

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